A -19C windchill becomes a matter of life or death for the homeless. Our Clinical Manager, Joyce Rankin, interviewed by CBC Radio's Matt Galloway

Compassionate health care for Toronto's homeless

Street Health is a non-profit community
based agency that strives to improve the health and well-being of homeless
and under-housed people in downtown Toronto. We offer physical and mental
health programs, as well as supports that improve clients’ ability to access other
services. Our work is focused in the neighbourhood around Dundas and Sherbourne
Streets, an area with the largest concentration of homeless shelters and drop-in
centres in Canada. On an average day, 115 clients come through our doors; we
have 40,000 client visits each year.

The people we work with have lives
characterized by extreme poverty, chronic unemployment, housing insecurity, poor
nutrition, high stress and loneliness. They also have more frequent and serious
illnesses, and die younger on average than the general population. People who
are homeless, and those experiencing income insecurity, often cannot afford or
have difficulty following medical treatment plans. Many people living on the
street have difficulty accessing mainstream health services due to barriers
such as lack of valid ID, the cost of transportation or social stigma.

With your support, we can make it work. We envision a day when our services are not needed, but until then our fierce commitment continues.

Health Care at Street Level

The health services we provide are
client-centered, flexible, and responsive.Our multi-disciplinary service model can assess individual needs from
different perspectives and respond with dynamic solutions. Street Health’s team of full-time and
volunteer Nursesprovides much
needed primary healthcare at our location, at other community locations, and at
area drop-ins. Our five-member community Mental Health team builds ongoing
relationships that help people with mental health issues access vital services
and supports. Our ID Team operates
nine clinics per month, where they help people replace essential pieces of lost
or stolen identification. One of the biggest barriers to accessing support or
services is the lack of valid government-issued ID. Once a client’s ID is replaced, the Street
Health ID Safe Programprovides a
secure and confidential place for them to store their valuable documents, which
may still be at risk of loss or theft. The ID Safe also operates a secure Mail Service, which provides a reliable
mailing address for clients dealing with housing instability. Our Harm Reduction program provides
supports for community members dealing with addiction issues and the risks
associated with substance use. We offer a needle exchange and stem
distribution, as well as education, drop-in programming, and access to all the
other services we provide. We firmly believe that healthy public policies are
building blocks for creating healthier communities, and our decades of
published Research and ongoing
systemicAdvocacy focus on gathering
facts and information and using them to work upstream for positive change.

If you would like to access our
services, or refer your clients, please call us at (416) 921-8668 or send an
email to info@streethealth.ca

To learn more about Street Health
programs and services, please follow the hyperlinks above or click on the tabs to
the left of your screen.

If you would like to donate to help
support our services, please click hereor call (416) 921-8668 ext. 229. All
donations will receive a charitable tax receipt.